The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.

The papers of Donald T. Regan, cabinet member, White House chief of
staff, and financier, were deposited in the Library of Congress by Regan in
1994.

Transfers

Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other
custodial divisions of the Library. Some photographs have been transferred to
the Prints and Photographs Division. Sound and video recordings have been
transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division.
All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Donald T. Regan
Papers.

Copyright Status

The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Donald T. Regan
is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

Access and Restrictions

The papers of Donald T. Regan are open to research.
Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to
visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to
retrieve these items for research use.

Security Classified Documents

Government regulations control the use of security classified items in
this collection. Manuscript Division staff can furnish information concerning
access to and use of classified material.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, Donald Regan Papers, Manuscript
Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

The papers of
Donald Thomas Regan (1918- 2003) span the years
1919-1993, with the bulk of the collection dating from the period 1981-1987,
the years in which Regan served first as secretary of the treasury and then
White House chief of staff during the presidency
of
Ronald Reagan. Regan's career at
Merrill Lynch and Company started with a training
program following his military service in World War II and culminated as chief
executive officer and chairman of the board. His papers, focusing mainly on his
government service in the Reagan administration, are organized into three
series:
Treasury Department,White House, and a
Personal
File.

The
Treasury Department series contains files
from Regan's tenure as secretary of the treasury from January 1981 to January
1985. It is the largest segment of the collection and documents the economic
policies of the Reagan administration.
Chronological
files within the series include Regan's official correspondence and a
reading and information file containing material put together by Regan's
executive assistant,
David L. Chew, to brief the secretary on important
issues and activities. Another subseries contains
memoranda
prepared by various offices in the
Treasury Department, including those relating to
domestic finance, economic policy, monetary affairs, and tax policy. A
speeches and
engagements file contains a chronological record of the speaking
engagements, statements, and trips Regan made as secretary.

The
subject
file in the
Treasury Department series focuses on the issues,
activities, and organization relating to the
Treasury Department during Regan's tenure. It
includes files on the bureaus comprising the department, such as the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the
Secret Service, and the
United States Mint, as well as economic
policy-making bodies such as the
Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs, the
Council of Economic Advisors, the
Federal Reserve Board, and the
Office of Management and Budget. A file of
transition material contains briefing books on economic issues addressed at the
start of the Reagan administration. Additional subjects covered include the
federal budget, financial deregulation, tax cut legislation, and tax reform.
Filed with material on the thrift industry are papers relating to a
congressional inquiry into savings and loan institutions which took place in
1991 when Regan testified regarding policies and activities during his term as
secretary of the treasury.

Individuals whose activities and correspondence are reflected in the
Treasury Department files include
department officials
Marc Leland,Ann Dore McLaughlin,Richard T. McNamar,Roger W. Mehle, and
Beryl W. Sprinkel; director of the
Office of Management and BudgetDavid Alan Stockman; head of the
Federal ReservePaul Volker; and Vice President
George Bush.

In January 1985, at the start of
Ronald Reagan's second term, Donald Regan and
James A. Baker switched positions, with Baker
becoming secretary of the treasury and Regan taking over as White House chief
of staff. Papers in Regan's
White House files relate to his service
until his resignation on 27 February 1987. Regan's management of the day-to-day
operations of the Reagan presidency is documented in the daily schedules of
both Regan and the president and Regan's telephone logs of incoming and
outgoing calls. Notes recording the activities and issues dealt with by the
White House, including notes on meetings and
conversations, are also among Regan's files.

A subject file in the
White
House series includes administrative and briefing documents related to
Regan's appointment as chief of staff. One such document is a letter from
Richard Nixon offering his impressions and advice
on running the
White House. Another subject treated is arms
control negotiations with the
Soviet Union, including files on summit meetings
in
Geneva, Switzerland, and
Reykjavik, Iceland. Located in files relating to
the
Soviet Union is an exchange of correspondence
between
Ronald Reagan and
Mikhail Gorbachev that occurred in the period
between these summit meetings. There is also material on the Iran-Contra
Affair, some of which, along with files for his memoirs, was subpoenaed during
an independent counsel's investigation into the Iran-Contra Affair. Notations
and markers are attached to documents requested and examined in 1992 as part of
this inquiry.

Individuals mentioned in the
White
House series are
William Casey,Michael Deaver, Robert C. "Bud" McFarlane, John M. Poindexter, and
Nancy Reagan.

The
Personal
File contains material related to Regan's activities outside government
before and after his positions in the Reagan administration, including a few
items from his career at
Merrill Lynch. These files supplement a larger
collection of records, including fifty-six volumes of desk diaries, schedule
books, and calendars dating from 1952 to 1980, which is located in the
Merrill Lynch corporate archives in
New York. Other papers from the period prior to
Regan's work in
Washington include files of political activities
and memberships in organizations ranging from the tournament policy board of
the
Professional Golfers' Association of America to
his chairmanship of the board of trustees of the
University of Pennsylvania.

Files from the period following his departure from government service
include speeches and writings. Files from the preparation of his memoirs

For the Record, which he wrote with the assistance of
Charles McCarry, include transcripts of tapes which
Regan dictated, communications with and drafts by McCarry, and research files
containing such original documents from Regan's
Treasury Department and
White House periods as a diary of his initial days
as secretary of the treasury, his handwritten account of the assassination
attempt on
President Reagan in 1981, as well as notes from that
day, material on Reagan's cancer surgery in 1985, and the
Geneva summit meeting. Among the speeches and
writings are commentaries, mainly on financial topics, which Regan presented on
television and radio. Papers relating to
Thomas Dawson, Regan's executive assistant at the
White House who moved with him to the firm Regan
established,
Regdon Associates, also appear among Regan's
personal files.
Organization of the Papers